Photo by Mark M. Murray / The RepublicanAnthony J. Impoco, center, is seen with his sons, Jacob, left, and Joseph, right, iat the family's Impoco's Poultry Market, 468 Walnut St., Springfield Jacob and Joseph are the fourth generation of Impocos working the family business.

SPRINGFIELD – As a kid, if Anthony J. Impoco screwed up during the week, he had to spend his Saturdays helping out at the family-run poultry market.

“Well I was in the store from when I was 10 years old up until now,” he said.

Impoco’s Poultry Market was founded by his grandfather, Italian immigrant Joseph Impoco, in 1929. Today, he runs the show.

Its original location was about a quarter mile up Walnut Street from the where it is now at 468 Walnut St. at number 468. In between then and now, his father, Salvatore “Sam” Impoco moved the store in 1974 to the Feeding Hills section of Agawam, where the family had a chicken farm. That store closed in 2008 when the land was sold.

Five months ago, Anthony Impoco reopened the store in Springfield. He uses the same telephone number his grandfather did.

Impoco has chickens grown for him under contract and then brought to a farm in Southwick. The birds are then brought to Springfield as needed for processing, using the same techniques his grandfather and father employed and taught him, he said.

“I don’t do anything different with this,” Impoco said. “I just do it right.”

As a general rule, Impoco sells chicken within three days of slaughter. He said he believes chicken tastes better if it is allowed to chill for a day or two, the first night in a slush of ice and water and the second day on ice.

“But, I have customers who insist that the first day is always the best day,” he said. “Just the travel time alone for national brands is my total time from farm to table.”

Impoco sell his birds with the head and feet still on, removing them only at the customer’s request.

“That way people know it is the freshest they can get,” he explained.

Impoco operates with the necessary city and federal approvals. He notes that a city inspector even left him a recipe for coq-au-vin that he’s saving for a tasty rooster.

Unlike large-scale poultry plants, the U.S. Department of Agriculture does not require an inspector on his premises at all times, according to Impoco. “I am inspected regularly,” he said.

Impoco is allowed to slaughter poultry for farmers only if they intend to keep the meat for their own use and to buy live birds and slaughter them for sale.